A Connecticut man who was out on bail while awaiting trial for his ex-wife’s murder was reportedly found dead Tuesday in a storage container located on his son’s property.
According to the Connecticut Post, police swarmed the Fairfield home after James Taylor’s GPS monitoring bracelet went off and court officials were unable to reach him. Lieutenant Robert Kalamaras said responding officers found the 75-year-old barricaded in a storage container in the backyard.
The New York Post reported that officers from local and state police departments—in addition to a bomb squad—gained entry into the container, which was locked from the inside. Law enforcement said Taylor was found dead at around 10 p.m., roughly five hours after police arrived at the home.
“We’re always concerned that there could be someone lying and barracking themselves waiting for an officer to approach the residence or whatever the situation may be, in this case, it was the Conex box. So, in this case, we just were wanted to take all measures to ensure the safety of our officers,” Kalamaras explained, according to WTIC.
Taylor was charged with murder, home invasion, criminal attempt to commit murder, first-degree burglary, and illegal discharge of a firearm. He was also charged with third-degree assault after allegedly breaking into his stepson’s home and fatally shooting his ex-wife, Catherine Taylor, 70.
Citing police, the Connecticut Post reported that the couple divorced 25 years earlier but James Taylor had asked his ex-wife to move out the Fairfield home in May 2018.
In early February, James Taylor’s stepson reportedly found him holding a rifle and standing over Catherine Taylor, who was lying motionless and had blood flowing from her head. Police said he aimed the rifle at his stepson but the stepson tackled him and got the gun away from him before he could open fire, according to the news outlet.
James Taylor had been staying with his son, Bridgeport Board of Education member Chris Taylor, since posting $2 million bond in May. As a condition of his release, he was ordered to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and couldn’t go more than 500 feet away from his son’s home.
Chris Taylor was reportedly out of state at the time of Tuesday’s incident. Before his father was found dead in a storage container, he told the Connecticut Post that he feared his elderly father had a stroke and was unconscious in his home.
In June, a judge reportedly froze $5 million of James Taylor’s assets after he missed a court date. He was considering an insanity defense in his ex-wife’s murder, the news outlet wrote.
Kalamaras told the New York Post that they’re treating the murder suspect’s death as an apparent suicide. Officials haven’t revealed a cause of death.
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[Featured image: James Taylor/Fairfield Police Department]
